Political Children

Well, dealing with a newborn, doing a lot of work, and getting my home fixed up and ready to sell all at the same time is… fun. And by fun, I mean sleep-depriving. But I’m coming up to the end on a lot of my work, which is good. In any event, a lot has happened since I was last blogging here. Of course, my first topic after my hiatus is going to have to be the guns. Specifically, the supposedly spontaneous child protests across the country.

To preface this, I don’t care what a child thinks about political issues any more than I worry about my dog’s opinion of my cooking. This strikes me immediately as similar to the “woke 8 year old” bologna that appeared all over Twitter in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton.

This is another manifestation of Weaponized Empathy. “It’s for the children” was a tactic employed by the media during the Syrian refugee crisis, often by showing carefully staged bodies of children, or as in one particular example, showing an injured child in an ambulance. In the latter, the child was dirty and bleeding, but journalists still found time to sit him in the otherwise clean ambulance and take a carefully-considered photo to push their political points.

However, today’s tactic is, perhaps, even more insidious. In this case, Progressives are using the gullibility and lack of experience of children to push for their political goals. One individual of some noteriety, whose name escapes me at the moment (it made the rounds on Twitter, if one of my readers has a name please drop it in the comments), mentioned that children are often wiser than their parents on social and political issues. And they are supposedly less gullible, too. And while Democrats want to raise the age required to purchase a gun, they simultaneously want to lower the voting age. Surely there’s no self-interest in that, right? After all, it’s easier to talk a child into Socialism with a basic “it’s not fair” kind of argument.

Look, the fact is children just don’t understand. That’s why they are children, not little adults. They don’t have the life experience to make such weighty decisions yet. The fact that some of them were talked into protesting (I seriously question the spontaneity of these events) doesn’t mean anything. When I was a child, I once threw a ball of watered down toilet paper at the gym teacher, and the other kids laughed and clapped when it happened. Children do a lot of stupid things.

Woke 8 year olds around the world were trashing Trump, right? Just like mommy told them to. Now students are comparing the NRA to the KKK, just like their parents and/or teachers are doing. And so long as they parrot a Leftist agenda, why not, right? I’m sure if a bunch of 8 year olds started protesting abortion, the Left would tell us how the kids are brainwashed or something. The media spin would go in the opposite direction, because according to the media, Left = good, Right = bad.

Hilariously, as a friend of mine pointed out, the children cannot even maintain a level of consistency (because they are children) in their messaging. Take a look at this hilarious example and see if you can spot the contradiction:

I don’t care if a child is singing the praises of Donald Trump or comparing the NRA to the KKK. He’s a child. His political opinions are irrelevant. Anybody attempting to cynically use a child’s ill-formed positions in an effort to sell a political agenda is evil. Such people are using our natural instincts to protect and cherish our children in order to sell a political position. Forget the facts, forget the rights of Englishmen. Forget history, forget economics, forget what actually works and what doesn’t. Instead, the message is this: “do what we say, or else you hate children.”

It’s conceptually no different from “you want to push granny off a cliff.” It’s an emotional argument. Pure rhetoric and a form of Weaponized Empathy.

Yesterday my 3 year old wanted a popsicle for breakfast. Because he’s a child. His opinions on nutrition are irrelevant. And so are the opinions of children on the matter of gun ownership and gun control. They are being used as pawns in someone else’s game. And the idiot who said children are less gullible than adults is a liar.

I mean, what’s next at this point? Here’s a list of some unpleasant truths about Progressives and the cynical manipulation of people:

Leftists like mass-immigration from the third world because they believe such people are more gullible, and thus easier to con into Socialism.

Leftists like child-protests, because children rely on popularity and peer pressure more than adults, and are more gullible, thus easy to con.

Leftists want to lower the voting age because the younger you are, figures the Leftist, the easier it is to con you into voting their way.

The lower your economic class, the Leftist figures, the cheaper it is to bribe you into voting their way.

And so on and so forth, ad nauseam.

Everything they do is about more Socialism. And they don’t care what lever they use to move you out of the way of Progress ™. Sad stories about third world refugees failed to move you? Okay, bring out some pictures of dead kids. That didn’t work? Con their own kids into some kind of twisted version of the Children’s Crusade and get them protesting in the street. That didn’t work? How about some woke 8 year olds on Twitter? How about some peer pressure? How about threatening your income?

You have to understand, with these people, the means doesn’t matter. Only the end matters, and the end, as they see it, is Socialism.

This lever failed to move me. It was, in fact, one of the dumbest Weaponized Empathy tactics I’ve seen them deploy in recent days. If we listened to children, everybody would be eating junk food, watching TV, posting on social media, and playing video games basically 24/7.

But what do I know, right? Listen to some 10 year old who was talked into protesting by his teacher saying he could get out of class early. Because that clearly makes sense, right?

Like this:

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25 Comments

Way, way back in time, when we were still weighing the merits and demerits of descending from the trees, there was a saying: “Children should be seen and not heard.” It expressed what I call a “sturdy wisdom:” The little tykes don’t know shit. Indeed, the age at which that ceases to be an absolutely reliable guide to child supervision has increased swiftly since I was a lad. Today I’d put it around Junior’s 35th birthday…and even then, you can find yourself regretting having allowed him to flap his lips at you.

The promotion of ignorant, emotion-dominated children — some taller than others — as founts of sociopolitical wisdom is one of the great follies of our era. But it’s massively useful to the Left, whose strategists and tacticians know full well how tender we are toward the kids…and how, as the kids-to-adults ratio continues to shrink, that effect will only become stronger.

Beware those who would use your kids against you. They hate you, they know what they’re doing, and they acknowledge no moral nor ethical boundaries.

John Ringo wrote his own contribution to the Ken Laumer “Bolo” series called “The Road to Damascus.” Within the story, he captures PERFECTLY the lengths to which leftist totalitarians will go to corrupt the minds of children to recruit them to the “just cause.”
Warning: if you have kids, you’ll find that part of the story intensely disturbing.

Or for a novella which terrified me the first time I read it, and scares me still, James Clavells’ “Childrens’ Story”.
This one is about an honest teacher and an intelligent child student in a society newly come to totalitarian socialism.
John in Indy

I read somewhere that the anti-gun protests ‘spontaneously’ sprouting up in schools across the country has all the hallmarks of a pre-planned event waiting for a trigger.

I’m telling you – the Left is very deliberately driving America to a “Submit or we will use force” moment. We are NOT going to get past this without significant violence, and at a level far worse than the 60’s. Leftist terrorist movements WILL sprout up as well.

Based on that, the President has grounds to dissolve the Cali state government, reduce Cali to a Territory, and appoint a Territorial Governor/Proconsul to restructure the entire Cali political and legal system at the state and local level.

To be honest, I consider Cali to be openly seditious at this point. Will federal offices in the state soon come under attack by organized demonstrators and rioters? I would not be surprised in the least.

Brazil is apparently the worst country in the world for gun violence, and private gun ownership is effectively illegal. Thus, one might be curious to know what is going on their now with regards to gun rights. In fact, any progressive reading the link below is likely to have a brain hemorrhage.

Ya but they mentioned a “study” that estimates for every gun out there there will be two killings. Personally I think the best protection against a thug with a gun is a bigger gun with the will and training to use it.

That study sounds retarded. Consider: there are over 300M legally owned guns in the USA. Last I checked, there weren’t 600M murders last year.
Big guns? I am the proud owner of a S&W 357 with 6″ barrel in stainless steel finish. Had it for many years and have kept it in excellent condition. It’s the kind of firearm that I think is a reliable source of protection when backpacking in grizzly country (and last time I was in the Tetons, I felt it was needful – there had been grizzly problems that year. Fortunately they left me and my pals alone and we had a tiring but otherwise great 5 day trip. Nothing like a few days in the wilderness to remind you of how truly miraculous things like hot water and indoor plumbing are.)

I agree on the study being retarded. However , in bear country bigger is usually better. I would prefer something in a 6″ .44 mag.
Since you mentioned bear here’s a true story for you. Guy goes black bear hunting in Ontario ,Canada. Being a black powder enthusiast he uses a .50 cal Pennsylvania longrifle from a tree stand over bait. He shoots his bear which tears up an eighth of an acre of woods (one of the trees was 8″ thick and he shattered it with one blow) and runs a quarter mile before dropping. Upon examination they found his shot had killed the bear instantly but the adrenaline had allowed him to do the damage before dropping. You were definitely lucky that day in the Tetons.
That’s what I’m fighting leftists for. It’s not about guns or any of there other BS. It’s their anti tech attitude that threatens hot showers and indoor plumbing. I’ve designed a house that can provide all the comforts except for a hot shower and indoor plumbing in the event of a total societal collapse. And I may be able to arrange a hot shower but the thought of trudging to the outhouse at night in the middle of a blizzard is just to much.

According to my scorecard you’ve spoken out against radical feminazis, Islamofascists and stupid politicians, So I guess your a mysogynistic Islamaphobe, but I don’t remember you saying anything about BLM or La Raza so i don’t see the racism. But what do I know? I’m just a working class stiff.

So:
1. N E 1 have any comments about the March For Life today? It’s obvious as the sky is blue that this was organized WAY in advance by very professional organizations, and was HEAVILY funded.

2. I hear the President is going to divert funds in the $1.3T funding bill at his discretion (which, since it wasn’t a formal budgeting effort, he can apparently do legally) and build the Wall. Thoughts?

It’s not so much listening as ‘recruitment.’
Kids tend to be stupid and easily led. The left is using guns for a propaganda drive to recruit youngsters. I actually find that sickening. Parents and school administrators & teachers who participate in this are complicit.
Also, this frothing farce is driving a voter registration initiative.

Every time one looks at what the Left does in the political, legal, media and social spheres, it looks like something straight out of the “Lenin’s and Mao’s Communist Revolution for Dummies” playbook. And I never see anything remotely as well organized, funded and executed by the Right.

Sorry I was so flippant about the march.I agree with what you say but you can’t start the shooting. You have to let them have the first shot otherwise people not on the left won’t support you. We are in a classic guerrilla warfare stage which most people won’t recognize. Until the left gets blatant enough in curbing the Bill of Rights anything more than political action will result in a loss for those opposing them. Besides there’s nothing worse than the American people pissed off at those who would oppress them. The Trump election was just a warning shot and it looks like the Elitists and Leftists are going to ignore it. Stay alert. Keep your head down. And have plenty of ammo stockpiled.